Royes
by RoseRedGurl
Summary: When they were in kindergarten, Zoe Royes walked up to Matt Roman and shared her animal crackers with him. From that moment sparked a friendship. They were the best of friends. And then junior high happened; BROTHERLY LOVE show from the 90s.
1. Chapter 1

**I started watching Brotherly Love and was inspired to write this. In the 90s, the Lawrence brothers starred in their own show on the WB. This story is more for me than anything else. I don't really expect anyone to be reading this but if someone is here, hey- let me know how I'm doing. It's probably a bit MarySue...**

They were the best of friends, although when you're five it isn't that hard. Matt Roman and Zoe Royes had met in kindergarten. One the first day, Zoe had marched right up to Matt, took his hand and declared they were friends. Since he didn't know anyone else, Matt didn't mind... especially since she'd also shared her crayons with him at coloring time.

Come summertime, Matt and Zoe literally spent every day together. They would alternate days at the other's house. Sure they had a couple other friends they also played with and the kids from the neighborhood, but mostly they just played with each other. Play dates went really late and then they started having sleepovers. The first ones included some of the other neighbor kids, at first, but Matt and Zoe decided not to invite them overnight anymore.

As they got older, the more time they spent with each other. When things with Zoe's parents began to get tense, she began to spend more and more time at the Romans'. When Andy was born, she all but moved into their house. She'd come over for breakfast, walk with Matt to school in the morning and back to his house after school, they'd do their homework, and then she would stay for dinner.

Claire and her husband didn't mind having Zoe over. It was almost like having a daughter. Claire Roman began to hope that her son and Zoe would end up together. It seemed like a really sweet idea. Mr. Roman would tease Matt about it after Zoe would leave. Matt would whine but then go to his room and write in his journal about how he actually hoped that he and Zoe would hangout forever.

The summer before 7th grade was something interesting. Zoe was allowed to have a little party before school started. She invited some of the neighbor kids over as well as some of the people from her 6th grade class. It wasn't the greatest party but it was decent enough. It didn't help Matt or Zoe make any new friends entering 7th grade, and honestly, Zoe was fed up with it all. She was sick of not going out at night and not having any new friends.

She was happy with Matt but it just wasn't enough. She wanted more friends. She wanted a boyfriend. She wanted more than what she had. So when the end of 7th grade happened, she signed up for the cheerleading camp. It was only a few hours a each day for the entire summer, but it was enough.

Come 8th grade, Zoe finally had some new friends. She tried to keep up with both lives, her friendship with Matt and the cheerleading lifestyle. But early on, plans began to overlap. She started flaking on Matt, breaking plans to hangout with the cheerleaders and breaking promises. She didn't feel good about it but Zoe finally had more than just one friend. She was popular. The boys were finally noticing her.

When high school started, things got so much worse. Zoe was on top of the food chain with the sports while Matt was still at the bottom with the other nerds and losers. She knew she had to pick one or the other life that summer, and she picked the life that got her noticed. And for the most part she didn't feel too bad.

It wasn't until Matt's dad died that she had a "moment of clairty". Matt had called her while she was out with the girls. He was frantic and crying and needed her... and she was there. For a week she was Matt's Zoe again. Over at his house and helped him get things in order and helped Claire deal and helped Andy try and understand.

The funeral was weird. She held Matt's hand through most of it. They didn't speak, just let him lean on her. For that week, it was like old times. After the funeral, Matt and Zoe went back to his house and sat in his room. They sat shoulder-to-shoulder on his bed, her head on his shoulder, their fingers intertwined- Matt's face still red and puffy from crying.

"How long does this last?" Matt asked.

Zoe lifted her head and looked at him confused.

He squeezed her hand, "This. You being here."

She exhaled, "I'll always be here if you need me Matt. But... we're different people now. I'm different now."

Matt pulled his hand from Zoe's and stood from the bed.

"Matt-"

"No! You can't just do that. I just lost my father and come Monday morning, I'll lose you again. Just go."

For the rest of the year, Zoe stayed away from Matt. He wanted his space so she'd give him his space. It was the least she could do. If he was gonna act this way- no she understood where it was coming from. He lost her once, losing her away would just break his heart more.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire was running late. She had to run to the store and pick up groceries for dinner. Lou was busy in the garage and Matt was running late from school. She only had one option left and that would be to call Zoe. If she had anyone else to call she would but no one could be over quickly and Claire was desperate.

Taking a deep breath, she dialed Zoe's phone number.

"Hello?" a female voice asked.

"Hi, it's Claire Roman. Is Zoe there?"

"Oh hi Claire. How's it going?"

Claire smiled, "I was actually wondering if you could come over and watch Andy for an hour. I have an errand to run and don't have anyone to watch him.

Zoe giggled, "Of course I can. I'll be over in a couple minutes."

After an hour and a half, Claire returned to the house. She walked through the garage and passed by Lou as she was working on one of the cars in the garage. The exchanged Hello's and Claire made her way upstairs with the grocery bags in her hands.

When she got in the door, she called for Andy to come help her bring the groceries into the kitchen.

"There's no Andy here. Only WOLVERINE!"

Claire smiles and says, "Well that's good cause I'm making your favorite: Small Woodland Creature."

Andy grabs a couple of the bags from Claire's hands and brings them into the kitchen. Zoe then grabs a few more from the older woman and walks with her into the kitchen.

"Thanks for watching him, Zoe."

The teen smiled, "Oh it was no problem at all. He only chased one car."

Claire smiled at the comment. It was no secret that, since the passing of her husband, Andy had been dressing up more frequently. He pretended to be a new superhero each and everyday. He was weird. The fact that Zoe played along was a comforting thing. She'd always been so good with Andy and Andy adored Zoe.

"Really, thank you for coming."

Zoe smiled, "No problem. It was fun. I missed the little guy."

Claire was aware that the teen and her older son had had a falling out a few years ago. So when she'd come around to help last year, she thought it was for good. She thought that Matt would have his friend back. But then she'd heard yelling and Zoe stormed out of the house. It was unfortunate but sometimes, high school changes people. Sometimes people change and friends grow apart.

Just as the phone began to ring, Andy grabbed Zoe's hand and pulled her out of the kitchen.

On the phone was Andrea looking for Matt. There was a talent show at the school and Matt had agreed to be in it, there was just one problem- Matt had no idea what to do for it.

"Well why don't you ask Zoe for help? I'm sure she could help you come up with something." Claire suggested.

Matt was thrown off by the suggestion, "Why? She and the other cheerleaders always to a cheer for the talent show."

Before Claire could reply to the statement, Andy bursted into the room.

"Don't worry, Wolverine will help you," and with that, he pushed his head into Matt's stomach.

"Would you stop fooling around so I can get dinner on the table?"

Andy saw the plastic wrapped chicken, "Allow me to cook some meat with my eyes."

Claire smiled at her younger son, "That reminds me. Zoe!"

Hearing her name, Matt tensed. And when she walked into the kitchen, his entire body froze. Their eyes met and Zoe felt a little nauseous. She tried to tear her eyes from Matt's but they were glued. It was like her guilt was punishing her by freezing her to her spot.

"Do you wanna stay for dinner," Claire asked, "I'm making chicken."

Zoe smiled at the offer, "Thanks Claire, but my parents want me home for dinner tonight. Said that we had to talk about something important. I think it's about my car."

Andy's eyes went wide, "You have a car?"

"Well not yet," Zoe stated, "but hopefully that's what tonight is about."

"Good luck then."

"Thanks Claire."

Andy gave Zoe a hug, "Bye Zoe."

"See ya later Andy."

Zoe looked over at Matt, "Yeah."

And with that, she walked out of the kitchen and back into the living room. She gathered up the homework she'd pulled out to try and work on and stuffed it back into her backpack. After grabbing all her stuff, she exited the home and made her way down the stairs to leave through the garage.

"See ya Llyod!" She called out.

And as she opened the door to leave, she nearly ran into someone. He was tall and had a gorgeous mane of hair. He looked a little like Matt. He offered her an apology and they walked around each other. Biting her lip, Zoe began her walk home.

The talent show was in full swing. Zoe was backstage, with a few of the other cheerleaders and they were going over their routine. While going over it, she noticed Matt, Andy, and the guy from a couple days ago backstage. Andy was dressed like Elvis and had hangers attached to his arms, which Matt was holding onto.

Feeling eyes on him, Matt looked over and saw Zoe looking at him. He raised a hand and waved, which Zoe smiled to and waved back. She turned back around and saw the other cheerleaders looking at her.

"What?" Zoe asked.

"Who's that? You're boyfriend?" Chloe, the girl next to her, asked.

Zoe scoffed, "In his dreams maybe."

The girls laughed and prepared themselves, as they were next to go onstage.

"Now please put your hands together for your Rossmore High cheerleaders!"

The girls came onstage and perform their brand new cheer routine to the song Opposites Attract by Paula Abdul. The audience cheered for them, especially the other cheerleaders and football players. The only used the first minute and a half, give or take, for their performance. When they finished, the football players and other cheerleaders stood to their feet and applauded while everyone else sat and clapped.

After the performance, Andrea came on stage and introduced the next act.

When Zoe got backstage, Andy ran up to her, "That was so cool!"

Zoe smiled at the boy, "Thanks Andy!"

She looked up and saw Matt standing behind him. She didn't know what to say, making the moment very awkward. She cleared her throat and walked over to her friends.

A hand touched Matt's shoulder. He turned his head and saw that it was Joe.

"What was that?" Joe asked.

Matt shrugged, "What was what?"

Joe motioned towards Zoe, "That cheerleader looked at you."

Andy piped up, "That's Zoe."

"I saw her leaving the garage a couple days ago. Who is she?"

Matt shook his head, "No one."

"She used to be Matt's bestfriend," Andy said.

Matt glared at his younger brother, "Shut up you little runt."

After the Johnston twins performed, it was time for Matt's performance. Andy was an Elvis puppet and he, with Matt, danced along to the song Blue Suede Shoes by Elvis. A dance that Joe helped them choreograph. It was a performance that got a whole lot of applause. Zoe watched the performance from backstage. It was incredibly cute and made her smile.


	3. Chapter 3

It was an incredibly wonderful day for Matt Roman. Sure, he'd woken up early and had school to attend, but he had just received the greatest news of all. Melanie Kramer, THE Melanie Kramer thought he was cute. He'd just gotten off the phone with Josh Kinny, the greatest source of the popular kids' gossip, and was delivered with the greatest news of his life.

Nothing was gonna bring him down. He dressed himself, brushed his teeth, and made his way into the kitchen.

"Guess who loves me?"

Joe couldn't pass up any moment to be sarcastic, "I'm gonna go with Barney the Dinosaur but you love him too, right?"

Not even Joe is gonna take this away from me.

"Melanie Kramer."

Claire asked, "Who?" as she was not up to date with the kids that went to Matt's school... other than Matt and Zoe.

Matt couldn't believe it, "The most beautiful girl in the Sophomore class. I can't believe you don't know who Melanie Kramer is."

"Sorry, I've been in Europe."

Matt pulled out his chair but wasn't done with his sharing of news, "She thinks I'm cute. Her word not mine. She just broke up with her boyfriend and they've been going together since 7th grade. We all thought it was for life but she told Zoe who told someone else that she thought I was cute."

Joe couldn't stand how happy Matt was. There was this incredibly stupid grin on his face. All he wanted to do was hit him a little. This much energy at the disgusting early hour was almost too much for the oldest Roman boy.

/

After school, Melanie told Zoe to walk with her back to her house. She said she had much to tell her about the day.

Once they reached the Kramer household, Melanie said her hellos to her parents before dragged Zoe into her room. Zoe shrugged off her heavy backpack and ploped back onto the bed.

"So where's the fire Mel?"

Melanie let out a little giggle, "Matt Roman asked me to the homecoming dance."

That piece of information caused Zoe to shoot up from her horizontal position. It seemed that any new info on the Roman boy sent her into a miniture frenzy. It was like she was desperate for even the smallest scrap of news. Obviously, she was going through withdrawls. Times like these, she wished she had tried a little harder to keep up with her frienship with him instead of throwing in the towel.

"And what did you say?" Zoe asked.

"Obviously I said yes. He's such a sweetie. He even got up a limo."

A limo? Where the hell did Matt get money for a limo? How's he gonna get tickets for the dance or rent a tux when he spent all his money on a damn limo?

Melanie snapped in Zoe's face, "Earth to Zoe. I have a crisis."

Zoe let out a giggle, "A crisis?"

"I already have my dress. Can you go help him pick a tux and a corsage?"

She tried to say something but it all came out as muttering sounds. Melanie just took them as a conformation that Zoe would do it.

"Thanks Zoe. You're the best."

/

It had been quite the day for Matt Roman. He'd woken up to the news that the most beautiful girl in school thought he was cute and now, school was over and that girl was his date to the homecoming dance. If someone last week had told him that days like today would happen, he would never believe it... there was just one problem.

He told Melanie that he would pick her up in a limo.

"Check out Richie Rich. Where'd you get the money to rent a limo?"

Matt had been updating his half-brother Joe on the trials and tribulations of the day. He'd saved up just enough money to rent the limo Saturday night and purchase the tickets. All he needed now was some extra cash to pick up a tux for the dance.

Just after he'd asked Joe to front him a little money, Zoe walked into garage.

"MATT!" She called out.

Both Matt and Joe turned to see that she was there. Matt swalllowed hard.

"Looks like money isn't your only issue."

Matt watched as Zoe talked to Lou and pointed her to the office, where he and Joe stood, almost staring. Zoe marched her way up to the office.

"And how the hell are you able to rent a limo when you don't have a tux, Matt Roman? Are you an idiot?"

Matt and Joe exchanged a look, "How do you know I don't have a tux?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, "You're still Matt Roman, correct?"

"Yeah."

"That's how I know. Now let's go."

Matt looked confused.

"You're taking my best friend to the dance. I've been sent to make sure you don't pick her up looking stupid."

Joe let out a chuckle.

"You were hot until you started mocking. Now you're just hot air."

His smile droped.

"Let's go Matt."

She walked out of the office and to the door.

Matt let out a groan and a sigh. It was frustrating to see that she hadn't changed at all. When Zoe Royes wanted something, nothing got in her way. She'd get angry and loud and a little mean, but she got the job done. It sucked, to Matt at least. She was still the same girl he'd met in Kindergarten. The same girl who pursued their parents into letting them go to their first concert without a chaperone. The only thing that was different was that she wasn't his friend anymore.

"Matt!"

Joe put a hand on Matt's shoulder, "So you two used to be friends."

Matt nodded.

"MATT!" Zoe was getting impatient.

"Good luck."

Matt chuckled, "Thanks."

/

Zoe hadn't dragged Matt to a tuxedo store. Instead, she brought him to her house. Matt hadn't been here in years, since the friendship fall out in junior high. If he was completely honest, he was a bit nervous to be there again. It just didn't feel natural.

"What are we doing here?" Matt asked.

Ignoring him, Zoe unlocked the front door and walked in, dragging Matt along with her.

"Zoe!"

Once again, she didn't respond. She pulled him up the stairs and to her bedroom. In there, he found four suits lying out on her bed.

"Renting a tux is gonna cost you a lot of money."

Matt let out a breath, "So instead you stole four of them?"

"Relax, narc," she giggled, "they're from my dad's store. I was tasked with cleanning and returning, which means they don't need to be back until Monday. That's how Melanie and I got our dresses, how my date got his tux, and it's how you are getting yours."

Once again, Matt was confused. He didn't get why Zoe was helping him out. All he could really focus on was that her room, other than a few poster swaps, hadn't really changed. Fabric swatches accenting the room, the ukulele on the wall, the pictures of her friends on one of the shelves- those had changed too- as well as the cheerleading trophies.

"I didn't know you got awards for cheerleading." Matt stated.

Zoe smiled, "We're athletes, athletes compete. We go to win. I thought we were here about a tux, Matt, not cheerleading."

"Right, right. Sorry."

Matt leaned down and picked up tux closest to him and moved behind the room divider, to try it on. Once it was on, Zoe was ready with her hemming pins. Although, looking at him, it looked almost perfect. Sure, it was a slight baggy, but knowing high school boys, he wouldn't be the only one with a tux that wasn't a perfect fit.

"So how do I look?" Matt asked.

Zoe smiled, "It's perfect. Melanie's gonna love it."

Matt smiled and started pulling off the jacket when something caught his eye. There was a picture taped to her mirror. It was of the two of them, from one of their many sleepovers. He took the picture in his hands and smiled at it. The memory flooding back to him.

"Ah the great burger dispute of 1988," Zoe had caught him looking at the picture and smiled. It was one of her favorite memories of them, and since there was evidence of the memory, she wasn't gonna take it down.

"I just can't believe you kept it up."

Zoe giggled, "It was a fun night."

Matt smiled once more before putting the photo back on the mirror. He went behind the divider and changed back into his clothes from earlier. As he was, the landline phone rang.

Zoe picked it up and answered, "Hello?" ... "Hi mom." ... "Just hemming." ... "No he hasn't come home yet." ... "Mom-" ... "Mom, I'm not doing that." ... "I'm not on his side. I'm not on anyone's side."

Her voice was getting smaller and smaller as the conversation went on. Matt knew her parents weren't as happy together as they'd once been. His home had become a safe haven for her when they were younger. He'd never ask questions, he just let her cry on his shoulder. But no matter what, he'd never seen Zoe so vulnerable with her mother.

"I'm at home, hemming a tux." ... "For Matt Roman, mom." ... "Matt Roman." ... "Claire Roman's son." ... "Mom, my best friend since forever."

A slip of the tongue. Right? Zoe meant used to be. Surely.

"We used to have sleepovers in the basement." ... "He brought peanut M&Ms once and almost killed me." ... "How is it not ringing a bell? I went over to his house every day for 8 years. You drove me." ... "Look, I'm sorry you don't remember him. Just add it to the list of things that's my fault." ... "I gotta go. These hems need to be done for Saturday."

She hung up the phone, shoved her face in a pillow, and let out a scream. Matt couldn't believe how much had happened. It had never been this bad. He couldn't believe that Zoe's mom didn't remember him, although he couldn't blame her.

Matt moved and sat down next to Zoe, on her bed. He felt a bit awkward. He wanted to comfort her, hold her and tell her that everything would be okay... even if it was a lie. Assure her that he was there for her anytime she needed him, much like she'd done for him when his dad died last year. It didn't even seem like it was hard for her-

"I need to clean the suit. It'll be ready Saturday."

The boy nodded.

Everything was still for a moment and then, "You can go now. I've got things to do."

And like that, their pleasant moment was over.

/

It was the day of the homecoming dance and all Zoe wanted to do was stay home and in bed. She wasn't really feeling a high school dance. The whole thing seemed childish and she wanted nothing to do with it. Of course, she knew that Melanie would never allow her to stay home, to skip something so "important" to their high school careers.

Around 1, Melanie had shown up to start getting ready. She'd brought food for them to munch on and then extra whitening teeth stripes and toothpaste. If there was one thing you didn't want at a dance was gross teeth and bad breath. After they ate and did their first round of teeth whitening, they started with their nails. Melanie painted Zoe's a metallic silver color and Zoe painted Melanie's a metallic blue color.

"So what's the tux look like?"

"Black tux, blue bowtie and cummerbund."

Melanie smiled, "Perfect! He's gonnna match me so well."

Zoe gave her a half-smile. This really was gonna be a long night.

At four, their hair was done in beautiful updos with a couple spirals of hair hanging down on their faces. It was an alluring look the two had perfected over the year and it drove the sports crazy.

A couple hours later, there was a call on Zoe's personal line. She picked it up and it was Ricky for Melanie. There was twenty minutes of giggling and apologizing and agreeing. It made Zoe squirm. She hated how gross and coupley the two had been when they were together.

"Okay bye."

After hanging up the phone, Melanie picked it back up and dialed a number.

"Mel?" Zoe asked, but just got a hand.

"Matt Roman please."

Zoe then watched as her best friend crushed the heart of her former best friend.

"Hey Matt, is the limo there yet?" ... "Look, about tonight- Ricky's picking me up in a few minutes." ... "A while ago, I just wanted to make sure the limo wasn't there yet." ... "I'm really sorry Matt." ... "Bye."

Melanie hung up the phone and then went back to doing her makeup and started another round of teeth whitening strips.

Zoe shook her head, "What the hell Melanie?"

She stood and headed for the door.

"And where are you going?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, "To make sure you didn't kill the boy."

Zoe enters the garage muttering to herself, "idiot. Idiot!"

She looks over and sees Matt sitting on the stairs, looking like a kicked puppy.

"I'm so sorry. I thought that she was done with Ricky. I thought you would do her some good. I didn't know that, on top of being an idiot, she was evil."

Matt let out a heavy sigh, "I spent my entire life savings on the girl of my dreams and she takes him back," he stands and walks over to Zoe, "13 minutes before the dance. Mission scrubbed."

Zoe gave him a half smile, "On behalf of my gender, I apologize."

"Not accepted,"

"Didn't think so."

A tense silence fell between the two. Zoe didn't really know what to say to him. She felt incredibly bad for what Melanie did. It was all her fault. She was the one who spread the gossip her friend thought he was cute. That gave Matt the confidence to ask her to the homecoming dance.

There was a loud honk from outside.

"Well, that's my ride." Matt was less than excited.

Then the limo driver walked in the door, "You two ready to go?"

Matt and Zoe looked at each other and smiled.

"I mean, you got a limo. We should use it."

Matt nodded, "We could get something to eat... then maybe stop at the dance?"

Zoe smiled, "Sounds perfect."

Matt walked up and slipped the corsage on Zoe's wrist before they walked out to the limo.

/

After the dance, Matt and Zoe sat in the limo, chatting along like old times. It was shocking how seamless their conversations seem to come along. They really did have a good time tonight. After a couple of burgers, they made it to the dance where they danced. They also avoided Melanie and Ricky, who spent the majority of the night fighting. It was really the icing on the cake.

The limo stopped in front of Zoe's house and Matt walked her to the front door.

"You know, tonight was actually a lot of fun."

Matt nodded, "Yeah it was. Thank you for not letting me mope."

Zoe smiled, "Anytime Roman."

She kissed his cheek and walked inside.


End file.
